Iowa Beef Center director column
September 2023
As I start writing my first column for the Iowa Cattlemen, I think of the big shoes to fill as I embark as the interim director of the Iowa Beef Center. I’m sure you all know the role Dan Loy played in his 40 years as the ISU Beef Feedlot Specialist and director of the Beef Center. But prior to Dan, John Lawrence and Nolan Hartwig were the directors. Again, huge shoes to fill as I worked with and for both of those gentlemen and highly respected both.
I’m hoping that Dan’s replacement will be on board for next year’s fall semester. I hope to be the interim director for only a year, however I don’t intend to just let things roll. My goal is to maintain the current fiscal situation of the center, support our staff in continuing to do great programs, and foster and grow our team efforts among the Beef Center staff as well as with ICA, IBIC and others.
I thought I’d start out by telling you a little about each of our staff starting with myself. My husband and I farm north of Belle Plaine and are ICA members in Benton County. I’m a native of Carroll County and the small community of Manning where I was a member of 4-H. At that time we boasted having three 4-H clubs in our small town and over 100 youth involved. My 4-H experience influenced me and pointed me to my 40 years with ISU Extension. I first started as a 4-H agent, then a county agriculturist in Tama county, a livestock specialist in central Iowa, five years in the state 4-H office, and now 20 years as a beef field specialist. My favorite part of the job is working with people of all ages. It is so satisfying to have producers thank me years later for something I helped them with. Usually, it was something I just thought of as part of the job I do daily, but it had a significant impact on them. It is also fun (although reminds me of my age!) to see ‘my 4-H kids’ now at the fair as parents and leaders themselves.
There are two Extension programs in northeast Iowa that I am especially proud of. One is the Driftless Region Beef Conference held every January in Dubuque. What makes it so fun and exciting is the cooperation between Extension staff from Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. We’ve built some great working relationships that have spilled over into many other cooperative projects among our states. The second is the county carcass contests in northeast Iowa, both 4-H and open class. It’s invigorating to have producers quiz me on the details of the contest results, and what they can do to improve their cow herd, and then to see how well they place in the ICA Carcass Challenge. I’m pretty proud of the quality of cattle coming from northeast Iowa!
A few programs we have coming up in September include a pasture walk in Madison County on September 7 and a Fencing and Grazing Clinic in Jackson County on the 14th. Also, we still haven’t taken the idea of drought meetings off the table, just waiting to see what the weather does and how the hay and corn crops continue to develop.
The IBC at Iowa State University serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers. Our center comprises a team of faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. We work together to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information to improve the profitability and vitality of Iowa’s beef industry. If you’d like to be notified of updates on progress of research projects or programs that might be coming to your area, please subscribe to our “Growing Beef” newsletter by following the link on our website, www.iowabeefcenter.org. If you have a question, use our “Ask our Experts” link. Also, feel free to call us at 515-294-BEEF or email us at beefcenter@iastate.edu. You can follow @iowabeefcenter on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
